"Taking Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren

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Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with six of the Brethren 
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. Most of the talk of the night was 
about the funeral that many of the Brethren attended earlier in the day for 
our beloved Tom "Cornbread" Victory. I had the honor of giving a eulogy for 
Tom. We set up his regular table setting and added a tall globe VGN lantern 
and a bowl of cornbread along with the photo book and notes about him from 
the past 6 years of this "Takin' Twenty" Report that I used in the eulogy. 
See a photo of this on this web site under "Memorial Photos of People". I 
reported at Tom's funeral about the many responses of condolence from this 
web site, some as far away as New Zealand and Ireland. Some who also 
attended his viewing or funeral included Obediah Overstreet, Rufus Dean 
Williams, Aubrey Wiley from Lynchburg, Greg Elam from Victoria, George and 
Betty Harmon (Slick Inge's niece and nephew) from Princeton, Dwight and 
Carolyn Vivas from Petersburg, J. D. Ferris, Tom Guilliams and many more. 
"Cornbread" will always be remembered at every "Takin' Twenty".

Every year about this time, the Brethren are anxious to see what great 
Virginian memories Aubrey Wiley includes in his next all-VGN calendar. 
Every one of the Brethren present bought their 2010 version last night. 
Rufus Wingfield immediately spotted a photo on the back page of a special 
scaffold used by VGN linemen to maintain the overhead 11,000 volt lines for 
the VGN Electric Locomotives. He also noted a "typo" under the photo, Salem 
is MP V251. Raymond East recalled seeing this tower on a motor car working 
in the Yard. This prompted me to remember in 2004 when Toby Hodson, VGN 
Helper Lineman, was a regular at "Takin' Twenty". He shared with us the 
same photo in the calendar and one with a close-up showing him and VGN 
lineman Red Taylor working on top of the tower. I have posted the second 
photo on this site under "Skip's Photos". As usual, Aubrey you have printed 
a masterpiece and another winner in the 2010 version and every Virginian 
fan should have one!

I showed the Brethren a clipping from Monday's "Roanoke Times" from 1909 
(100 years ago): "Roanoke may expect a visit in a few days from the monster 
Mallet engine, which has just been received by the Virginian Railroad from 
the builders".

We talked about the movement of the "Lost engines of Roanoke" from the 
Virginian Scrap Iron location. These three M2 steam engines have now been 
distributed for cosmetic restoration. The #1151, built in Roanoke Shops has 
been delivered to VMT; the #1134 is now at the 9th Street Siding of the 
Roanoke Chapter NRHS where Will Harris, Goshen lumberman who is making the 
moves, and his work force will sand blast and paint it for delivery to 
Portsmouth, VA Historical Park; and the #1118 is now at 9th Street for the 
Chapter's use. The Chapter will have an Open House on September 26 at the 
9th Street Facilities and should also have the two C&W Baldwin switch 
engines for all to see.

Landon Gregory just returned from a trip to the National Railway Historical 
Society's Convention in Duluth, MN. His wife Sandra informed me that he has 
a new nickname give to him by a "Yankee female bar tender". Landon and his 
friends now call him "Muffin".

The funeral and seeing a lot of former VGN and N&W employees prompted a lot 
of memories. Rufus recalled Benny Russo who came to Roanoke from Minnesota 
with the circus, liked Roanoke, and got a job as a brakeman on the VGN. Ruf 
said Benny was always working on old "VWs" and was asked once why he never 
bought a new car. He answered "I like working on the old ones".

When I prepared for Tom Victory eulogy, I looked at the last six year's 
"Takin' Twenty" Reports and "gleaned" some of the best "Cornbread" stories. 
I showed them to Rev. Jay Fields, Tom's Minister, for review since some are 
sort of "racy" and certain ally not politically correct. He insisted that 
the following one be included:
11/10/05 "Cornbread" Victory told us about Benny Russo getting saved and 
bringing back to the Yard Office a pile of tools that he had stolen. 
Victory said that there was a "mad rush from the sinners to take possession 
of the returned tools".

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon



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